The Department of Public Utilities asked City Council on Oct. 28 to authorize a two‑year, up to $960,000 agreement with DLZ Ohio to serve as program manager to finish Toledo’s automated meter infrastructure (AMI) project, which the department said has about 5,500 remaining residential meters to replace.

Doug Stevens, director for public utilities, and staff described DLZ as the incumbent program manager for the AMI rollout; the administration asked council to waive competitive bidding because DLZ “knows our processes” and replacement consultants would face a learning curve. Stevens said roughly 120,000 meters now produce monthly readings but about 5,500 remain in hard‑to‑access or obstructed locations that will require additional coordination, outreach and sometimes corrective plumbing work.

Council members pressed for detail. Questions included whether large commercial meters were complete (officials said yes), breakdowns of remaining meters by district or ZIP code (staff agreed to provide by referral), and whether the $960,000 would be charged as a flat fee or on hourly invoicing (staff said invoices will be for hours authorized and approved). Councilmember McPherson asked whether the contract is part of a $100 million meter project; staff said the DLZ contract will be paid from DPU capital funds and is an extension of the larger program, not part of the loan program that financed earlier phases.

Several council members expressed frustration at repeated supplemental funding requests for the AMI project. The director said program changes and unforeseen obstructions produced the remaining work and that the project has improved meter read rates to 99.9% and increased revenue by an amount staff estimated as "13–14%" attributable to accurate billing.

The administration requested suspension of the rules for advancement. The transcript shows the presentation, question and referral requests but does not record a formal council vote during the session. Councilmembers asked for a detailed scope of work, timeline, district/ZIP code breakout of remaining meters and periodic billing reports from DPU.